Cigarette economy

I'm confused about inflation. Really, I'm confused about all aspects of the economy. But inflation in particular has me scratching my head this morning. The other day, I was watching "Swing Time" with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Oh, what a lovely little song 'n dance picture, full of the 1936 morality that kept women from being taken seriously by officers of the law and kept black men from being taken seriously by anyone. But great dancing! Anyway, early on in the film, Fred Astaire wants to buy a pack of smokes for 10 cents from a vending machine, but all he's got is a quarter. Along comes Ginger, who buys a pack for herself, and Fred asks, "I beg your pardon, but have you change for a quarter?"
In my entire life, I don't think I've ever needed change for a quarter. These days, a quarter in a vending machine will get you a pepto-flavored gumball, a dime will get you nothing. And to buy a pack of cigarettes in a vending machine, you'd need change for a twenty.
Fast-forward to 1969. "Sweet Charity" with Shirley MacLaine. Shirley's talking to her friends, telling them about her crazy night with an Italian movie star, how they went to this place full of celebrities, one of those places where they overcharge for everything, like "you pay 60 cents for a pack of cigarettes." Huh, 60 cents for an overpriced pack of smokes. That seems on par with our "Swing Time" rates of 30 years prior.
Fast-forward again to 1991. Charline's Drugstore in Summit, NJ. I'm working behind the counter, selling smokes for $1.90 a pack. Around the corner, there's a vending machine selling overpriced smokes for $2.25. In my 2 1/2 years selling smokes, the price went up in nickles, reaching $2.10 by the time I left. The vending machine was removed, as it was thought to contribute to teen smoking (though I sold plenty of smokes to teens at a much more reasonable rate). I remember thinking how expensive it was getting to be a smoker, once they raised the price over $2. That was 15 years ago. Today, Charline's Drugstore no longer sells anything, I think it might be a shoe store or a liquor store, but if you want to buy a pack of smokes in Summit, NJ, it'll cost you over 6 bucks. Holy crap. New York City, you'll pay $8. Of course, much of the price tag on cigarettes comes from taxes, which is why it's cheaper to be a smoker in many states outside of the NJ/NY area. But it's still averaging around $5 most places. Holy crap!
While cigarette pricing may not be an effective measure of inflation, it's quite telling nonetheless. Personally, I'm no fan of cigarettes, so I have no complaints about them being too expensive for people to buy. If only cigarettes were the one over-inflated item on our shopping lists! But everything seems to cost too much. Hell, everything DOES cost too much. Back in the days of Sweet Charity working the dance halls, a family of 4 could live comfortably off of one income. Today, it's hard for a family of 1 to manage on one income. The "Swing Time" Ginger knew that once she married Fred, she'd stop working at her dance studio (lots of dance jobs for women back in those day) as she would no longer need the income (and only sinful women worked jobs after they married). Ginger today would be in debt up to her eyeballs by the time she was 22. Forget marriage, she'd need a second job! For those people who are in favor of returning to an America more like the America of Fred & Ginger's time, an America where Dad went to the office and Mom raised the kids and no one divorced or had sex out of marriage, a more "traditional" America with more "traditional" family roles, well, those people are gonna have a mighty tough time doing all of that without Mom's income.
When I was a kid in Ohio, none of my friends had a mom with a job. Fast-forward to high school, and few of my friends had a stay-at-home mom. My mom was able to stay home with us until I was in 6th grade, but then we needed the income. And even with 2 incomes, it was still tough making ends meet. It's only gotten harder. Being a stay-at-home mom isn't an option for the vast majority of American women, no matter how much this might be a desired role. And I don't understand how we got here. In a matter of decades, our cost of living has skyrocketed, which has drastically limited our choices. While women once fought for the right to work, we no longer have the choice NOT to work, especially once there are kids in the picture, which is exactly when a lot of women would gladly stop working outside of the home and take on the mammoth task of working inside the home. There are many people in this country who would like to raise their families in a more traditional manner, where someone is always home when the kids get home from school, where the family shares dinner each night, where home is a haven of sorts. Instead, our times necessitate a lifestyle of latch-key kids, daycare, and after-school programs meant to keep kids supervised until a parent is able to pick them up. We're a nation struggling to define "family values" while clearly we have devalued the very idea of spending time with our families. A 40-hour work week is a luxury these days; most adults work at least 50, plus they're commuting long distances to be able to live in a community with decent public schools and reasonable housing prices. Having dinner with the family is no longer a daily given; it is now more of a weekly event, schedules permitting.
I don't have kids, and I don't plan on having kids. So I won't have to worry about the things that parents worry about. But I've got nieces and nephews, I've got friends with babies to raise, and I worry for them. I want these kids to have a chance to see their parents sometimes, and I want these parents to be able to catch their breath sometimes. I worry that financial struggles will bring about divorce, I worry about the lack of options available to kids without money. The truth is, I feel many things about my choice not to have kids (and I'm not saying that it's never gonna happen, but...), but more than anything, I feel relief. I am having a hard enough time just taking care of me and Alex these days, Alex is struggling to keep a roof over our heads (and win us a BMW), and both of us watch the news daily with a growing sense that the world as we have understood it is shifting in ugly and difficult ways. I feel relieved that I don't have to explain all of this to my child, that I don't have to wonder how rising sea levels and financial instability and terror-without-borders will shape the world of my children. I feel relieved that I won't have to tell to my daughter that I can't be at her school play because I have to work late. I feel relieved that I won't have to tell my son that his dad is gonna be working in Macao for the next year as all the casinos have gone kaput in the US. And mostly, I feel relieved that I won't ever see my kids smoking $30 cigarettes.